Hyde Park Progress is a blog devoted to promoting reasonable economic improvement in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. It is a forum for members of the community who want to end the artificial isolation of Hyde Park from the larger economy of the City. It calls for the improvement of neighborhood retail and commercial amenities, safety, and liveliness.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Clarke's Opening on Monday!

posted by chicago pop

Alas, a non-locally owned chain displacing cell phone stores and promoting foot-traffic on 53rd Street late at night. From the U of C's 53rd Street Blog:

Clarke’s 24-hour restaurant will open this Monday starting at 8 a.m. During its opening day, Clarke’s will offer a pre-Valentine’s Day special to include a 10 percent discount for each total bill until midnight.

Located at 1451 E. 53rd St., the menu choices include a variety of items such as omelets, pancakes, stir-fry dishes, sandwiches and a host of other food selections.

UChicago officials brought the all-night eatery to Hyde Park’s key commercial corridor to address the interests of students and the community for more late-night amenities.

“As we continue to work closely with the community, the City and Alderman Will Burns to strengthen our ongoing revitalization efforts, we believe adding the right mix of restaurants and retail businesses will bring added value to Hyde Park that residents have been asking for over the past several years,” said James Hennessy, director of Commercial Real Estate Operations for the University.

Established in 1986, Clarke’s has existing locations in Lincoln Park, Evanston, Lakeview and Bucktown.

“We are very proud to make Hyde Park our new home for Clarke’s as a key destination on the South Side of Chicago,” said Steve Dionysopoulos, co-owner of Clarke’s. “With the rapid growth in an important business area along 53rd Street, we believe that our 24-hour restaurant will meet the needs of both students and the community at large. We are very excited to be a part of the Hyde Park community.”

6 comments:

Undershmtanding the chaos of opening day, but the young 20 something woman that supposed to be a server was AWFUL. After sitting 20 minutes before we stopped the woman that was bussing table to get our drinks we would not have even had a glass of water.When the young woman finally took the order- an hour passed and she came out of the kitchen and tossed her hands in the air and said she had no idea where our food was! This is not acceptable. At no point did this woman so much as offer to correct the problem. The manager made several excuses about what was going on in the kitchen and the fact that he had hired local residents. Well as I said to him- it is a local restuarant who else would you hire. I did not have a problem with anyone other than this woman who obviously did not want to be bothered- especially since everyone else had on a uniform and she did not. The manager referred to the staff more than once as cracked, and continuous excuses for the shortcomings, I explained to him the only issue was this woman.I doubt I will go back.. I should have followed my first mind and driven down to Opart Thai

They state that they hired local residents. Where was it listed that they were hiring. I have been trying in vain for the past month to find a listing so I could apply. Unless they hired family members or close friends, I am not sure. I was hoping to apply as a dishwasher or busser and live walking distance from the restaurant.

I see from the Herald article that this location will not be serving liquor. I think that's a mistake.

@mchinand: Looking at the listings on Yelp, it appears that the other locations do take credit cards. The Herald quotes Clarke's as saying they aren't taking them at the Hyde Park location to avoid transaction fees. I expect the other locations make that up in liquor sales.